Grounded
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Peter is grounded (Following the events of my other fanfic 'learning curve') but when someone needs help he cant just ignore it, no matter how many people are telling him not to.


(AN: Yay so this is for my wonderful friend Shoyzz I hope you like it!)

"Why did he ground you?" Peter sighed at his friend, as they walked down the school halls to their next class.

"I didn't tell him I was sick, and we went on a mission. It didn't end well."

"The bad guys got away?"

Peter frowned at the other boy, nose scrunching up in his face. "No, Ned, I got beaten up."

He nodded, and Peter scratched at the new watch on his wrist. "Ohhh, okay, yeah, that's bad."

"He's got all these stupid rules now. And he's making me wear this dumb tracker when I'm not in the suit, so he'll know where I am and what I'm doing. If anything happens, it'll call him or I can push an alert button and let him know I need help. I don't know what he thinks is going to happen at school."

He didn't like being monitored so closely, even if the tracker was in a nice watch. He continued in his litany of complaints.

"So, I can't even sneak out in my home-made suit. I have a curfew now too, and I can't go on any spider patrols, or missions, no hanging out with you-"

Ned turned to him, letting out a whine. "No, me?!"

Peter adjusted his backpack and sulked. "Yeah. I think he would have banned me from hanging out with anyone but he knows I only have one friend."

Ned screwed up his face as he thought about it. "Can he ground you though? He's not even your dad, he's like…your boss, so it should be like a suspension."

Peter shrugged. "Aunt May was all for it, she said I need to be more careful, and responsible. I think she's actually just glad I won't be going out for a while. She worries."

"Did he take the suit again?"

Peter shook his head quickly and winced at that conversation.

 _"Are you going to take the suit away again?"_

 _Tony had rolled his eyes. "No, because last time I did, you almost died in the-"_

 _Tony finished with "-fight with the vulture" just as Peter supplied "Building collapse."_

 _Tony's eyes had widened in confusion and anger. "Excuse me, what did you say?"_

 _Peter had tried to shrug it off. "Nothing. I said the vulture fight." It hadn't worked and he'd gotten yet another lecture and an extra week on his punishment._

Ned's voice broke Peter from the memory. "How long are you grounded for?"

Peter threw his head back as he groaned. "Two weeks. Ughh, I'm bored already, I'm going to lose my mind if I can't go on patrols. What am I supposed to do after school?"

They turned a corner, dodging a group of kids in their path, Ned spreading his hands in front of him as he suggested what he thought was a fairly obvious option.

"Uhh, your homework?"

Peter frowned. "No, be serious."

This did not make Ned happy. Peter was always trying to get out and do things he wasn't supposed to, and he didn't understand why he couldn't just lay low for a while.

"I am! I'm kind of glad you won't be going out on missions."

"You too?! Why?"

Ned gripped the straps of his backpack, looking more sullen than he had before, and Peter realized he didn't often think what it would be like for Ned to have Spider-Man for a best friend.

"Because then I know you're safe. Every time I hear something going on in the city, like a bomb or a robbery, I always freak out until you text me back to say you aren't dead. Sometimes, you're too tired after a mission and you don't text me back, so I call your Aunt May and she checks on you for me."

Peter stopped walking and looked at the other teenager. "I didn't know you did that."

He felt awful. Ned sent him texts every night, after patrols, to ask him how it went, but Peter had thought it was because he was interested in his hero adventures, not because he was worried he was dead.

Ned shrugged. "Yeah, well my best friend is Spider-Man, what am I supposed to do?"

They kept walking as Peter tried to reassure him. "You don't have to worry so much. I can handle myself."

One of Ned's hands came to smack Peter's arm. "You just said you were grounded because you got beaten up!"

Peter made a face, unhappily blowing air out of his pursed lips before answering. "I was fine! I heal fast! Mr Stark just doesn't trust me, he thinks I'm some stupid kid. And I hate these dumb rules they're-"

His complaint was interrupted when his phone buzzed in his pocket with a txt from Tony.

"You'd better hurry up if you want to get to your next class on time. Your tracker shows you're on the wrong side of the school, and you only have five minutes. Chop chop."

Peter groaned and resisted the urge to throw his phone at the wall as he replied with a poop emoji and started running, with Ned following behind.

…..

School was over and Peter wanted so badly to go out on patrols, but it was still only day four of being grounded. The teenager was hanging upside down from the ceiling, finishing off his chemistry homework, and suuuper bored.

He'd gotten so used to life as Spider-Man, that life as just plain old Peter Parker, was no longer enough. He needed the high of saving someone, that thrill when he swung through the city way too fast.

He wanted to help people.

Being a grounded superhero sucked. Not only because he was missing out on the fun, and bored out of his little spidey skull, but because when he saw bad things happening on the news, he couldn't help but think he could have stopped it.

Tony had told him more than a few times, that you can't save everyone and you can't stop every bad thing from happening, but that didn't mean Peter didn't want to try. He thought it very unfair that Tony would be so untrusting of him, treating him like a kid that didn't know what he was doing. Peter had super powers, and he was super smart, he shouldn't have to sit at home doing nothing, just because Tony didn't think he could handle himself.

Peter's book fell out of his hand and smacked onto the floor. "Dammit."

He was about to reach for it, when something prickled at the back of his neck, like a shiver, creeping from his spine to his arms and the rest of his body. Something was wrong.

The teenager climbed up to the ceiling and crawled to the window, sticking his head out to see a trail of smoke smudged across the sky, as a building burned a few blocks away.

His hearing focussed and picked up on screams of distress; people yelling, and crying as sirens blared, too far away from the fire to help. And he knew he should leave it to the professionals, he knew he should just stay in his room and let the fire brigade handle it, but one voice stood out among the rest and he couldn't ignore it.

It was a woman, screaming that her children were still inside. Peter's heart raced as he watched the building smoke and crackle, beams falling and part of the roof collapsing. Help wouldn't come fast enough. It was going to come down.

Peter knew he would get in trouble, but he didn't care, as he slipped on his suit and leapt from the window.

Karen's voice wasn't as kind as it usually was, almost like she was judging him. Not cool.

"Peter, you are grounded. You are not permitted to use this suit."

The teenager swung as fast as he could, buildings flying past him as he tried to get to the one that was burning. "I know, but there are kids in trouble! Will the suit still work even though I'm grounded?"

Karen's answer was quick. "Yes, but Mr Stark wants you to know he's very disappointed in your disobedience. He left a message in case you used the suit. Would you like me to play it?"

He was almost there, and there was so much smoke around, Karen had to automatically turn on the gas mask feature. He answered her as he swung quicker, entering the building through a hole in the roof. "NO!"

"He's programmed me to play it no matter what you said. Here it is." Karen's kind voice was replaced with Tony's gruff one, and Peter winced as it slammed against his sensitive ears.

"Peter, this message only plays if you break the rules so, GET OUT OF THE SUIT AND GO HOME YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

Peter groaned at the heat of the building. There was fire everywhere and he could not only hear, but feel the creak of the whole thing about to come down. So, he was inside, now he just had to find those kids.

Karen's cheerful tone came once again. "Would you like me to play the message again?"

Peter crouched down, as his suits eyes adjusted to the mix of fire light, and obscured vision from the smoke. "No, just scan the building. There are kids still here and I have to get them out."

"On it."

It was a lot scarier than he thought it would be. It was so, so hot, and louder than he had anticipated, and he couldn't stop his heart from hammering in his chest as his breaths came a little quicker.

He made his way through the inferno, as Karen scanned the wreckage for the kids. Thankfully it didn't take long.

"Located. Three children, last door down the hall. They appear to be frightened but unharmed."

Peter ran, making it into the room in a few seconds, as beams and walls crumpled around him. One of the kids screamed as he entered, the three of them, all under ten years old and huddled on a bed at the end of the room.

Peter wished his suit could smile, as he ran over to them and tried to look less intimidating. He crouched down to meet their eyes as the eldest girl, around eight, clutched her brothers, twin four-year olds.

He kept his voice cheerful, even as the roof began to cave. "Hey, guys! I'm Spider-Man and I'm here to help! Do you think I could get you out of here?"

The girl nodded as the boys wailed, and Peter quickly scooped one four-year-old under each arm, before turning around and offering a piggy back to the girl. She hopped on, arms wrapping tightly around his neck, and he ran from the room, making it to the barely standing stairs when Karen brought up the call feature in his vision.

"Incoming call from Mr Stark."

"No, don't answer it!"

The stairs creaked dangerously, pieces falling off as he flew down them, and Tony's voice rang through his ears, the call having picked up despite his protest.

"PETER, YOU BETTER NOT BE IN THAT BURNING BUILDING! I ASK YOU TO DO ONE THING AND YOU CAN'T LISTEN TO ME FOR JUST-"

Peter interrupted, as he dodged a falling, flaming, beam, the girl on his back screaming in fright as he did.

"I'm sorry, Mr Stark but there were kids in here and the fire fighters wouldn't make it fast enough!"

Tony sounded just a smidge less angry than he had a second before, and Peter could hear the thrusters from the Iron Man suit in the background.

"Did you get them?"

"Yeah, but this building's coming down!"

They were so close to the exit, on the ground floor and just a room away from the door as it burned, like a glowing archway to the safe street ahead. Peter sprinted towards it, as the heat from the fire got more intense, but they were just a few feet from the exit when a huge crash erupted around them.

A beam fell, huge and burning, right in front of their escape route. They were trapped.

The kids all started screaming again, and Peter's heart pounded as he searched for a solution. Tony sounded mad again, but his voice shook, betraying his concern.

"Hurry up and get out of there!"

Peter almost couldn't speak. "I-Mr Stark, I can't. It fell, we're trapped."

The girl on his back coughed, and Peter's brain kicked back the fear and took hold again. His voice was quick. "Karen, how do I get out of here?"

Her answer was not what he wanted to hear.

"The buildings structural integrity is greatly compromised. It will collapse in approximately ten point eight seconds. I cannot find a viable exit. I'm sorry, Peter."

She sounded sad. He didn't think he'd ever heard her like that before. One of the boys under his arm, let out a sniffle, huge brown eyes looking up at him with a mix of fear and awe.

"Mr Spider-Man? You gonna save us, right? I'm scared."

The other boy, whimpered. "I want my mommy."

Peter was frozen. There was no way out. The girl on his back hugged her arms tighter around him, and it was like all other noise disappeared as she whispered against his mask.

"You can do it, Spider-Man."

And he would. Because he would not let these kids die.

Tony's breath was coming too fast through the coms. "Peter? I'll be there soon, okay, just hold on." He knew he wouldn't be fast enough.

Karen knew it too. "He will not arrive in time."

Peter made a choice. He gently placed the two boys on the ground and slipped the girl from his back, crouching down to talk to them, with what he hoped was a steady voice.

"I need you guys to be really brave for me can you do that? I'm going to lift that beam, and you're going to run under it and keep running until you're safe with one of the grown-ups outside, okay?"

The twin boys gripped his arm and spoke at the same time, eyes wide and scared.

"What about you?"

Peter's voice was quieter, because he knew what he was saying was a lie. "I'll be right behind you."

The kids nodded and stood close behind him as he approached the beam on the floor. Tony spoke again, no longer able to hide the fear in his voice.

"Peter, you have to get out."

The teenager placed his hands under the burning beam, ignoring the heat that radiated through his suit and scorched his hands, as he replied.

"I will." He knew it was unlikely he would. He had about five seconds left to get the kids out before the entire building came down, but he knew what he had to do.

Tony knew what his plan meant, and he tried to find any other option, unwilling to accept the outcome of Peter's idea.

"Just…use your webs, or smash a wall, dammit Peter, don't do this!"

He knew that his webs would melt, and smashing a wall would only bring the building down on all of them, but he couldn't accept the truth. He couldn't let the kid do it.

Peter grit his teeth and lifted with all his might as Karen counted down.

"Four."

Peter screamed with the effort as he lifted the beam, ignoring the way his hands burned at the contact.

"Three."

The twins went first, holding hands, and ducking low to avoid the flames licking at the wood above them. They were safe.

"Two."

The girl went next, looking back at Peter as she disappeared. Tony's voice cracked as he screamed. "PETER!"

"One."

God this would kill his aunt.

The building came down in an explosion of heat and smoke, enveloping Peter in darkness.

…

Tony arrived just in time to see the three-story building collapse, flames erupting from what was left of the roof, and his heart stopped.

Peter was in there. His kid was in there.

He didn't ask Friday if Peter was alive because he couldn't bear it if the answer was no. Instead he asked for his location.

"Find him!"

Friday gave him a red dot to follow, near the front of the broken mass of heat and smashed construction, and he flew as fast as he could, mumbling desperate pleas as he tried to breathe through his panic.

"I'm coming, Peter. I'm coming, kid, just hang on. Don't be gone. Don't be dead."

Flames roared and ate at the debris in the buildings broken maw, and Tony finally saw him. Just an arm, laying limp, suit torn away from a couple of fingers, as the limb was licked at by flames, trapped beneath the rubble.

Tony's chest seized, and he couldn't breathe. He needed to get him out.

He threw bits of wall, and broken, melted furniture out of his way as he dug the teenager out, taking just one breath for each new piece of Peter he could see.

An arm. A chest. Two legs. And finally, he was free.

Tony's hands shook within his suit as he reached for the broken boy, lying among the ash and soot. He wasn't moving. His suit was torn and burnt, in places. He looked…

Tony sniffed, blinking away his tears as he scooped the kid as gently as he could, into his arms, holding the fragile cargo to his chest.

"I got you, Peter. Just hang on."

He flew back to the compound as Friday's quiet voice came, soft and calm. "Dr Banner and the med team at the Avengers compound have been notified of the incoming patient and his injuries."

Tony held the kid tighter and hoped he got there fast enough.

….

Peter heard before he felt.

Beeping. Voices. Someone was crying. More than one someone. Yelling and then a groan that made everything go silent.

The voices were closer.

"Peter? Can you hear me?" May. She sounded sad.

"He's still pretty heavily sedated, don't be surprised if he goes back to sleep." That was….Bruce. Peter had met him a few times before. He was nice, Peter liked him.

Fingers ran over Peter's forehead, running through his hair, and suddenly he could feel everything.

The wires sticking to his chest, the needles in his arm, the bandages and stitches and bruises and burns. It hurt. He groaned again and May's voice came, excited and high.

"I think he's waking up! Peter, come on honey, open your eyes. We're right here."

It was too bright at first. His eye's opening just a crack before closing again as he turned his face away from the lights.

Bruce's voice came closer, gentle as always. "Peter? I've dimmed the lights for you, can you open your eyes for me?"

The teenager was tired, and he just wanted to sleep again, but May was running her warm hands over his cheek, and he wanted to see her.

Glassy eyes blinked open, hesitant, and confused, but they were open, and flitting around the room.

May let out a small sob, as she lifted a hand to her mouth, tears running down her face. Bruce leant close to the kid and shone a penlight in his eyes, quick and ready with steadying hands on Peter's cheek, as he tried to turn away.

"Nice to have you back, Spider-Man. Can you tell me your name?"

Peter lifted his hands to try and swipe at the light, but it went away as Bruce gently pressed his arms back to the soft bed.

"No, no, no, try not to move too much. Just lay still, you're safe. Can you tell me your name?"

May watched her nephew carefully as he croaked out an answer. Mouth dry and clumsy like it was learning to speak for the first time.

"Hmmm…P…Pet..er."

May cooed encouragingly and patted his hair back, as Bruce smiled and nodded.

"Good. Do you know my name?"

Peter took a little longer to answer, not because he didn't know it but because his brain moved so slow it was hard to translate thoughts to sounds.

"Bruce."

The man smiled warmly, and Peter felt instantly better. He sat on the edge of the bed and pushed up his glasses.

"That's really good, Peter. Now, what's the last thing you remember?"

Peter had to think about that one. He wasn't sure.

He thought about it, images hovering at the edges of his mind. They were hot and loud and the beeping got louder the longer he thought about it.

Bruce looked up at the monitor next to Peter's bed, noting the lines running across the screen and the rising heart rate.

"Okay, Peter, it's all right. You don't have to think about it right now. Take a deep breath."

The teenager suddenly didn't like the needles in his skin and the fog in his brain. He didn't like those memories, they were too hot and they hurt. Noises came tumbling from his mouth, whimpers, and grunts, as he tried to tear the wires from himself.

"No, no, I can't- I don't want that-please."

His hands were weak and shaky, fingers barely curling around the IV in his arm before Bruce's hands untangled them and pressed them down into the mattress.

"Peter, stop you need that. I know you're scared but I need you to take a deep breath and focus on me. Just calm down. You're safe."

The teenager didn't know what was happening, or why everything hurt so bad. Why was he so weak? Why couldn't he remember what happened? Bruce continued to speak quietly to him, and Peter found his heart slowly settling.

"You're safe, Peter. That's it, you can sleep now."

His eyes were drooping, although he wanted to stay, he found himself slipping back into sleep.

…..

The next time Peter woke, he felt a little clearer. He recognised the room as part of the medical wing at the Avengers building, and was able to look down at himself in the hospital bed. He was covered by a blanket up to his waist, exposing his chest which was bare, save for the bandages wrapped around him, and the monitors attached to his skin.

He looked awful, covered in gauze and dressings, with a bulky brace around one of his knees to hold it in place as it healed.

His head wasn't as fuzzy, and remembered what had happened.

The fire, the kids, the way Tony had screamed his name when the building came down.

"Oh god."

A voice came from the other side of the room, making the teenager look up at its harsh tone.

"Nope just me."

It was Tony. And he looked angrier than Peter had ever seen him. He walked over to the bed, teeth bared as he spoke.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

Peter tried to answer. "I-"

But Tony kept going, fists clenched as he raised his voice. "You were supposed to home! You were supposed to be safe!"

Bruce ran in, looking worried as his gaze flickered between the two occupants of the room. "Tony, I don't think this is the time."

But Tony's gaze didn't leave the boy in the bed. "You were banned from all missions! Why don't you listen to me?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Peter shook his head, ignoring how dizzy it made him. "I heard their mom screaming, I couldn't just leave them to-"

"You should have let the fire fighters handle it!"

Peter was getting angrier, desperate to make Tony understand. He wasn't a child.

"They wouldn't have gotten there fast enough! Someone had to help them, and I can't let a couple of kids die just because you put me in time out!"

Tony's brow furrowed over his furious eyes, hands waving as he yelled. "I grounded you for a reason! I didn't want you going out and getting hurt again, just because you're intent on making stupid, reckless decisions. You're not invincible!"

Peter yelled back, ignoring the way it hurt his chest. "I'm not a kid! You never trust me, you don't take me seriously, I want to help people! I wasn't being reckless, I knew that it was me or those kids and I chose them!"

Tony's voice wasn't as strong as it was before, cracking just a little. "You don't get to make those decisions! You don't get to choose! You are a kid! You're my kid!"

Peter watched as Tony's eyes filled with tears. Voice breaking over his words. "You died Peter."

Bruce sighed, ducking his head. Peter's breath froze, his blood going cold.

"What?" His voice was nothing but a whisper but Tony heard it and stepped closer to the bed.

"After you saved those kids, the building collapsed on top of you. You were buried underneath and I dug you out. I flew you here but…. your heart stopped before I got here. You died in my arms."

He remembered Friday's hesitant tone as she informed him. "He's…his heart has stopped, sir."

They way he'd flown faster as he ordered her to use the defibrillator in the suit, and her apologetic voice.

"The suit is compromised. The defibrillator has been crushed…I'm sorry, Sir."

Peter blinked at the man, unable to speak.

Tony wiped a hand over his eyes as he continued, voice wobbly and wet. "It took so long to get you back, Bruce was worried about brain damage from how long you went without oxygen. And you looked so…you looked so small. Do you know what it was like when I called your Aunt?"

Peter looked down at his lap, closing his eyes.

"She cried for so long. I called Ned but I didn't want him seeing you like this, so he's been waiting for you to wake up. You should have seen the look on his face, Peter."

The teenager sucked in a breath. "I'm sorry."

Tony's voice was quiet. "I can't lose anyone else."

Peter knew he was talking about Rhodey, when he'd almost died fighting against Caps team. Tony looked back at the kid and sighed, all anger gone.

"I just wanted to keep you safe. There's too many people that need you."

Peter didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to make it better.

"I'm sorry." Tony didn't say anything, and Peter tried again.

"Did everyone get out of the fire okay?"

Tony wiped at his eyes and leant over to the table beside the bed, picking up a piece of paper and handing it to Peter.

"Yeah, those kids that you saved, sent this. Well, they sent it to me, because they don't know who you are but it was addressed to Spider-Man."

Peter took it, and smiled down at the crayon drawing of himself with the kids. They'd drawn him with a lot more muscles than he had in reality, and he took note of the writing in the corner.

"Thank you for saving us! You're our hero Mr Spider-Man. Love from Zoe, Max, and Charlie."

Peter didn't do what he did for the thanks, but he knew he'd be treasuring the drawing forever. He looked up to Tony, who was watching him with just a hint of pride.

"I'm really sorry for scaring you and everyone. I just…I couldn't let them get hurt."

Tony nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I yelled. Just don't do this to me again, okay?"

Peter nodded, grateful that the yelling was over. "I'll apologize to May and Ned, too."

Tony took a seat beside the bed, leaning back tiredly. "Good, because they've been waiting a week to see you awake and it hasn't been easy."

Peter's heart jumped. "It's been a week?!"

Tony frowned. "Yes, your chest was crushed, you had a collapsed lung, head injury and swelling on the brain, burns and bruises all over you, and as a nice little bonus you had glass stuck in your back and a broken knee. It took a long time for Bruce to fix you up, and with that many injuries, your speed healing hasn't been working so well. We had to pump you full of a lot of pain meds to keep it at bay and it slows down your healing. Bruce is working on something better for you.

"Most of the burns and cuts are healed but it's going to be a little while till you're back on your feet. So, this time, when I tell you to stay in bed and not move, you'd better listen to me."

Peter was suddenly very glad that he had been asleep for the worst part of healing. He leaned back in the bed and closed his eyes.

"I will this time, I promise. Thanks for saving me Mr Stark."

Tony sighed, and watched the kid with a small smile. "No problem Spider-Man."


End file.
